The Ghosts of New York
by Adoradork
Summary: It's October, and as the mercury falls the battle with the Kraang heats up. April, Casey and the turtles track strange energy signatures across the city. Suddenly there are more things in the darkness than ninjas. Michelangelo and Casey Jones must team up to save their family and friends, but how can they when no-one will believe them?
1. Fall in the Big City

April pulled her parker tighter around her, but it didn't stop the cold October wind from slicing through her jeans. She gasped at the assault, unable to stop the shivers that gripped her.

"Just what I wanted to do tonight," she said through chattering teeth. "Stand on a freezing rooftop and wait for the Kraang to show up."

"It's not THAT cold," said Leo. He leaned on the edge of the roof, eyes on the alleyway below, in focus, as always.

"Are you kidding me?" She shook her head at her friends, who looked untouched by the temperature, though they were wearing nothing more than their normal leather harness. "Do you guys even feel the cold? Why are you not shivering?"

Donnie stepped up beside her, his eyes on the meter in his hands. "Actually, shivering is a mammalian response to cold. Reptile physiology is much better adapted to work at low temperatures, so we don't need to shiver to warm our muscles in the cold like you do. In fact-"

Raphael appeared out of nowhere and body slammed Donnie, sending him flying into Leonardo. "Oops. Didn't see you there, Donnie." He grinned an evil older-brother grin. Donnie and Leo glared up at him from the floor.

April stifled a laugh at their expressions. She realised that she was marginally warmer. Raphael's bulk made an excellent windbreak. April shuffled closer to him. _Hurry up, Kraang._ She really, really needed to get warm soon. "Well, it's great that you _cold-blooded reptiles_ are having fun, but I'm dying here."

Mikey bounced up beside her and wrapped his arms around her. "Aw, here April. I'll warm you up." It didn't make much difference.

"Thanks Mikey," she said and patted his arm. "But- AAARGH!" She jerked her hand away. "Your skin is freezing!"

"Is it?" He snuggled in to her. "But you're nice and warm. Mmmm."

"I _was_." She pushed him away. "I'm not your personal heat lamp, M-m-m-mik-k-key." Oh that was it. Now her teeth were chattering so much she couldn't talk.

"Don't worry, April. You'll warm up when the fighting starts," said Leo, grinning at the thought.

Donnie nodded. "That's right. Muscle contractions generate heat as a by-product of-"

Raphael groaned. "_Are they here yet?"_

Leo raised a hand, one finger pointing up. "The ones known as Kraang are not yet in this place, known as the place where the Kraang are not."

April winced inwardly.

"Are you kidding me?" said Raph, folding his arms across his chest. "Did you have an extra helping of _lame-juice_ with dinner?"

"Come on. That was good," said Leo.

"Dude, no," said Mikey, shaking his head. "Just no."

The meter in Donnie's hands shrilled. "Got you!" yelled Donnie. "Come on!" He took off across the roof, his eye on the frantically beeping meter instead of where he was going. April's heart was in her mouth but he was over the alleyway and on to the next rooftop in no time, his brothers right on his heels.

And then she had to concentrate on her own jump with cold limbs and hands that weren't working as they should. She leaped, landed, staggered. Her foot slipped, her arms swung wildly. _Please don't let me fall._ She grabbed for the edge but her cold hands fumbled it. For a moment time slowed down. _I'm falling._ Under the fear was the tiniest flicker of embarrassment. _I'm never going to live this down._

A large hand snapped around her wrist. "Gotcha!" She looked up into Leo's grin.

Relief washed over her. She braced her feet against the wall and pushed upward. Leo hauled on her arm and she was back on the roof. She could feel the colour rising on her cheeks. "Don't tell the others. Please?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said. "Do you want to sit this one out?"

She pinned him with what she hoped was a steely glare. "What do you think?"

Leo put up his hands in mock surrender. "Just asking." He wasn't laughing at her, but his eyes were suspiciously bright. Great. She gathered the shreds of her dignity. "Let's go."

The others were out of sight. And she was warming up now, from adrenalin as much as the run across the rooftops. "Which way did they go?"

"This way. I think," said Leo, as they came to the edge of another rooftop and looked out into empty space. "Or maybe not."

The abandoned lot in front of them was empty, save for a gaping stormwater drain and a lot of weeds. "We lost them?"

Leo pulled out his phone. "I'll call Raph and-"

Something tickled her other sense, a warning, and she swung around, to see a looming metal foot heading straight for her. "Look out!" she cried, diving to the side. Fishface landed between her and Leo, the roof tiles shattering under his feet.

Leo landed in front of her, katana already out and pointed at the enemy. "Fishface? Who let you out of the pond?"

Great. She so wasn't ready for Fishface. But she wasn't going to let Leo face him alone. She scrambled to her feet and drew her tessen, slipping into a defensive stance.

"Look at this. A soon-to-be-dead turtle and a pretty little toy." He turned his head sideways to observe her and she found herself face to face with a creepy fish eye. _Ugh_.

"In your dreams, Fishface," she said with a bravado that she did not feel. _You can do this, April. Defend. Move. Just try not to suck_. She wasn't sure if the icy feeling in her arms was the weather or flat-out fear.

Fishface leaped at them and she dived aside into an awkward roll that Splinter would definitely have shaken his head at. _Okay, it's fear. Get it together, April!_

Leo and Fishface met in a clash of steel, katana against knife. April circled behind Fishface, looking for an opportunity. _You're _kunoichi _now. Deception and stealth. _Fishface kicked out. Leo flipped away to avoid the titanium legs. She really didn't want to be anywhere near those things. But what could she do?

Master Splinter's words came to her. _Look around. Anything can be a weapon._ Right. But she was on a rooftop, and there was a distinct lack of things-to-hit-people-with, heavy artillery or anything remotely useful. _One industrial-sized airconditioning unit, a lot of dirt, a half-trained kunoichi and a ninja turtle. _

Her eyes fell on a red painted square on the wall. A fire hose! She ran over and tore open the door. Oh this was going to be good. "Kunoichi April is in the house," she muttered as she unhooked the nozzle. It was heavier than she anticipated, but she could hold it. She pointed the nozzle at Fishface, holding it with one hand as she yanked down the lever to open the tap.

The force of the water coming out slammed her back against the wall. The arc of water shot across the roof, hitting Fishface squarely in the back and catapulting him over the edge. She heard his drawn out cry as he was swept away.

"Yeah! Take that!" she gasped, trying to hold the nozzle as it bucked and kicked. Her feet slipped on the wet surface. Uh oh.

"Nice one, April!" Leo called. "Very sneaky!" He picked up his katana and walked toward her.

"Thanks!" The glow of satisfaction inside was warming her like nothing else. She let go of the nozzle with one hand to turn off the water. The hose bucked, she slipped. With only one hand on the nozzle she couldn't control it. The stream of water swept across the roof and slammed into Leo's chest, sending him flying. There was a crack as he hit the edge and then he was over and gone.

"_Leo!_"

_No, no, no._ She yanked the lever and the water slowed to a trickle. She flung the hose away, running for the edge. It was only one story, but did he have time to get his feet under him? Had he fallen badly? _It's dirt below, not concrete. He'd be all right._ She reached the edge, her throat closed in fear.

Leo lay sprawled on the dirt. "Leo!" She scrambled down a drainpipe and staggered over to him. "Leo?" Guilt threatened to suffocate her.

"Ow," he said, his voice muffled, and suddenly she could breathe again. He pushed himself up on to his knees, one hand on his head.

"Oh Leo, I'm so sorry." She put a hand on his arm. "Are you okay?" There were fresh scrapes on his chest and a dark patch on his forehead.

He stared at her for a long moment, his expression confused. "What?"

"Are you okay?"

"I...think so?" He seemed unsure, his normally confident voice slurred, his gaze unfocused. _Oh no. I really HAVE hurt him._ She put one hand under his arm and helped him over to the wall. He stumbled, and her strength was barely enough to keep him on his feet. He slid down the wall into an untidy pile.

She kneeled down in front of him, watched the slow blink. He wasn't focussing. She needed help, and now. She pulled out her phone and called Donnie.

"April? What's wrong?"

"Help. It's Leo. I, um...I kind of knocked him off the roof with a fire hose." She turned away from Leo's dazed expression, colour heating her cheeks.

"You..? Okay, nevermind. Where are you?"

"In an abandoned industrial lot, down near the river."

"Near the ferry berths?"

"No, other way." She felt sick. Of all the stupid things to do.

"Okay, we're coming. Stay there." Donnie's voice was comforting and she clung to the phone after the line went dead.

"Thanks, Donnie," she whispered into the silent phone. Donnie would fix it. But she dreaded facing them. She had knocked Leo off the roof and hurt him. _Some ninja_.

She turned around. Leo was no longer leaning against the wall. "Leo?" she called. No answer. Where had he gone? She scanned the lot frantically for his distinctive shape. There he was, staggering drunkenly towards the river.

"Ahh! Leo!" What was he doing? She bolted after him. _Don't fall in the river! _That would just make things a hundred times worse.


	2. Mud and mist

April ran after Leo, stumbling through the tough weeds. How had he gotten so far away so quickly? She had only been on the phone to Donnie for a moment. _Ninjas_. Mist curled over the ground, swirling into white spirals as she ran through it.

The ground near the river sloped down to the water. As she followed the slope down, the noise of the city faded. On her left, huge concrete pipes jutted out into the river. The ground turned to mud beneath her feet, slippery and treacherous.

She heard a splash as Leo stepped into the river. She gritted her teeth and ran across the mud, slipping and sliding until she reached him. The water was like ice, and the shock made her gasp aloud.

She grabbed his arm. "Leo, stop!" He staggered into her, and they nearly both went down. She slipped her shoulder under his arm, aware that if he did go down, there was nothing she could do to stop him. "Come on, Leo. Help me out, here."

She tried to turn him but he resisted, pushing her towards the dark opening of the pipes. Mist curled from the water here, too, obstructing her view of the far shore. She shivered. "Not there. We need to get out of this water."

"S'm'one's singing," he said, his voice slurred.

She blinked, and listened. A damp, cold silence surrounded them. "I can't hear anything."

"Singing," he insisted, taking another step toward the pipes.

"No," she said. "No-one is singing, Leo. Please, we need to go this way." She put all her effort into turning him around. He resisted, but she took advantage of his dazed state and yanked him around.

She couldn't see the bank. The mist was higher than her head, obscuring everything. _What's going on?_ They had only been a few steps from the bank. Now there seemed to be nothing but a blank stretch of water.

Panic gripped her. Was she even facing the bank anymore? She peered around her, but mist and water surrounded her on all sides. She was lost. She didn't know which way to go.

And then she could hear singing, just on the edge of hearing. _That's it. Creep factor overload. Come on, April. Use your training!_ She took a deep breath. Trust your instincts, Master Splinter always said.

She closed her eyes. The singing was louder now, no voices, just a wavering melody, like pan pipes or a flute. She pushed the sound away. Her senses told her to walk forward, but her legs wouldn't obey.

_Walk, April. Just walk._ She took a step, dragging a dazed Leo with her, and another, and another, the cold water splashing up her legs. Leo was getting heavier and heavier as he sagged against her. _Please stay upright,_ she begged silently. _It was too far. They hadn't come this far. She was going the wrong way._

_No! Keep walking! Trust your instincts._ She forged on, gritting her teeth.

Then the water was gone and they staggered up on to the mud. April opened her eyes. They were on the shore. She had made it!

"April!"

Donnie's voice, right now her favourite sound in the world. The turtles ran to meet her. Raphael took Leo from her and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Where were you?" Raphael snapped.

"In the river. We got lost in the mist."

"What mist?"

April turned and looked behind her. The water was clear, reflecting the lights from the far shore. There was no sign of mist anywhere.


	3. Logical explanations

Back in the lair, Leo sat propped up on a bench, surrounded by his brothers. April hovered nearby, worrying her lip with her teeth. No one had said anything yet about her knocking Leo off the roof, but she knew it was coming. She flicked a glance at Raphael, knowing that it would probably come from him.

"Well," said Donnie, moving a finger across Leo's vision, watching his pupils move. "Definitely concussed. How are you feeling?"

Leo didn't answer immediately. "Kind of spacey." He winced. "Head aches a bit."

There was a growing lump just above his temple, already going purple. She picked up the icepack and sat down next to him. "Leo, I am SO sorry," she said, for what felt like the hundredth time. But it could never be enough. "Really, REALLY sorry." Gingerly she pressed the bag against the bump.

"S'okay, April." He smiled at her, but any attempt at comfort was ruined by his glazed expression.

"He'll be fine, April. Don't worry," said Donnie.

Raphael snorted. "Yeah. He's been knocked off a roof and dragged into a freezing river hundreds of times," he said. "Oh wait, no he hasn't."

"Raph," said Donnie, glaring at his brother. "I'm sure it was an accident."

"What did you drag him into the river for anyway?" said Raphael.

"I didn't! He ran off." She glared at Raphael. Why would she drag him into the river? How stupid did he think she was?

"I did?" Leo blinked.

She turned to stare at him. "Yes! And I tried to drag you back, but you kept going on about the singing."

"Singing?" Leo shook his head slowly. "I don't remember that."

_How could you not remember?_

"Well," said Donnie, standing. "Concussion can cause short term memory loss, and a ringing in the ears. That's probably why he thought he heard singing, and why he can't remember it now."

"But…" She felt stupid saying it, but she desperately wanted to justify herself to Raphael's contemptuous expression. "I heard it too. And there was the mist..."

"What mist?" snapped Raphael. "There was no mist when we got there."

"I've got it!" shouted Mikey, jumping up on to the bench seat. He struck an ominous pose, his voice dropping to a whisper. "_Ghooosts_." He leaped forward and landed in front of April. She found herself inches away from a twenty-megawatt Mikey stare. "Were there strange lights? Did you see bodies? _Intestines_?" His voice was breathless with excitement.

"Ewwww," said Raphael. "Mikey!"

Donnie rolled his eyes. "There are no such things as ghosts, Mikey."

"Oh yeah?" Mikey folded his arms across his chest. "Then how come there are so many stories about them?" His expression clearly said that this was incontrovertible fact.

"Because people are credulous and stupid?" said Donnie.

"Or _maybe_, because they are _out there_." Mikey wiggled his fingers, his eyes wide. He grabbed April's arms. "What else happened?"

"Weeell…" It was impossible to avoid the blue gaze. "There was all this mist-" Raphael snorted and she flushed. "And the singing coming from the pipes."

"Pipes? What pipes?" said Donnie.

"Big concrete ones."

"Well that explains it. It was probably just the wind blowing across the pipes," said Donnie.

"Or it could be the restless shades of the recently departed," said Mikey.

"Oh, enough!" snapped Raphael.

"But-"

Donnie swung around and glared at Mikey. "Mikey. There are no such things as ghosts! Now can we please concentrate on something real, like the fact that we lost track of the energy signatures _again?_"

"You did?" April took the opportunity to untangle herself from Mikey's grasp.

"We did. They just petered out. I don't understand it." Donnie flopped down on the seat. "It's like they're coming in some sort of wave, but I can't figure out _why_, or what would be producing an energy signature like that."

Mikey gasped. "Hey! Maybe the _energy_ signatures are the-"

Raphael lifted his hand, ready to strike. "_If you say ghosts I am going to smack you."_

Mikey deflated like a balloon in the face of Raphael's expression. April felt sorry for him. Not that she agreed with him. Here, in the lair, under the lights, it seemed so ridiculous that she had heard singing, had got lost just a couple of feet into the river. And Leo didn't remember any of it. Ringing in the ears, Donnie had said. Well maybe she had just worked herself up and thought that the wind in the pipes had been strange music. She glanced at Leo. He was listening, but she could see he wasn't keeping up. No backup there.

Donnie was looking at his tracker with a dubious expression. "Maybe I need to make it more sensitive. I guess I could add some more receivers and then amplify the incoming signal." He stood and wandered off without a backward glance, still talking to himself.

April found herself the subject of Raphael's amused expression. "Nice work tonight, April." He sniggered. "I'm sorry I missed it."

Great. "Thanks," she said, her face heating up. "Glad I can entertain you."

"So what have you got planned for next time?"

She sighed. "I'm sure I'll think of something."

Raphael walked off, shaking his head and chuckling. She turned to find Mikey watching her.

He leaned closer and whispered in her ear. "_It's totally ghosts_."

"Yeah. Okay. Thanks, Mikey." She took the ice pack from Leo and went to the kitchen to refill it.


	4. Nightmares

Michelangelo jerked awake with a gasp, his fists clenched in the sheets, heart pounding in his ears. It took him a moment to realise that he was in his room, not struggling underwater with ghostly hands trying to drag him down. He stared into the darkness, watching the fading visions of his nightmare. It always took him a while to move after he woke from his dreams, his body frozen in terror, unresponsive, unable to even pull the covers over his head in case _they saw him move_.

But as the nightmare faded his body became his own again. He sighed and rolled over. Something crackled underneath him. His searching fingers found paper, the comic book he'd been reading before he went to sleep. He wriggled around and pulled it out from under him.

Had he finished? He couldn't remember. It had been a good one, though, _The Curse of The Calypso Pearl_. Undead pirates and sea monsters and cannon battles on the high seas. The hero slicing his way through the undead with a cutlass, and the heroine with, let's be honest here, a _really tiny_ shirt.

Best of all, dead sailors had crawled up the sides of the ship to join the battle, their skin pockmarked with barnacles, seaweed clinging to their rotting skin. A delicious shiver ran up his back and he shuffled down under the covers until just his eyes were visible, pulling the comic under with him.

On the walls above him his collection of movie posters peered down, a montage of terrifying faces, monsters, screaming victims and gore. Nothing gave him more of a thrill than the hero facing a terrifying, life-or-death situation with a supernatural monster.

As long as there was a happy ending, of course.

He was wide awake now, and warm. He glanced over at the clock beside his bed. 3:47am. Maybe he could finish the comic. That would put him back to sleep. He flicked through until he found his place, then settled in. There was almost enough light to read by, but not quite.

He was reaching over to switch on the light above his bed when his brain said _hold on…. _He couldn't usually see his posters in the middle of the night. Carefully he sat up. Light leaked in under the door. Not bright yellow light, but pale, greenish light that flickered and danced.

_One of Donnie's experiments?_ Not at three in the morning. Goosebumps rose on his skin and he slid back under the covers, pulling them over his head. He lifted one corner of the cover until he could see out. The light was still there. Was there something outside? He should really go and look. He reached for his lightswitch again, but hesitated. _If I turn on the light, whatever it is will know I'm there._

There was nothing else to do. Mikey slid soundlessly from under the covers and made his way to the door, ninja feet making no noise on the floor. He opened the door, wincing when the hinges squeaked. Outside the strange light lit the walls, faint but visible. He moved out of the doorway.

The light was coming from under the door to Leo's room.

_What are you up to, bro?_ He padded silently over to the door, pressed his ear to the metal and listened. Nothing.

"Leo?" he whispered. He tapped softly on the door, but there was no response from inside. What should he do? It was an unwritten rule that they kept out of each other's bedrooms unless invited. He tapped a little harder. What if Leo had just fallen asleep with the light on? He glanced down to the crack under the door. The light streaming out flickered and danced across his legs, turning his skin a strange colour.

Maybe he'd just take a quick peek.

Slowly he turned the handle. The click of the latch sounded like a gunshot in the silence. He froze. Carefully he eased the door open.

Pale greenish light washed over him. The room rippled, as if he was seeing it underwater. Slender, dark tendrils snaked across the floor, slid up the walls, curled around furniture. _What the…_

Leo's foot was visible, lying on the covers. Mikey inched forward until he could see the bed. His breath caught in his throat. Leo was splayed out on his back, and _there was a girl curled up on either side of him._ The girls' eyes were closed, and they pressed in against his brother's sides.

Long, dark hair spilled from their heads, curling over the edge of the bed, and he realised those were the tendrils spilling about the room. They moved like snakes, curling up over his brother's form, sliding around his legs, his arms, his throat. Mikey couldn't breathe. He was frozen in place, watching the snakelike tendrils move across his brother's plastron, then push _through_ it and into Leo's chest.

He gasped. The girls' eyes flew open. Black gazes turned to stare at him from empty eyes.

Michelangelo filled his lungs and screamed.


End file.
